Meet the new freshmen: Andrew Paul

Kirby Smart admitted back in February he initially did not know much, if anything, about Texas running back Andrew Paul until Dell McGee showed him the Dallas native's HUDL film earlier this year.

He’s certainly glad McGee did.

As UGASports continues its look at Georgia’s freshmen class, it’s time to take a closer look at Paul and what convinced Smart and the Bulldogs to make the push they did to sign him.

HEIGHT: 5-11

WEIGHT: 220

RANKING: Three star

It wasn’t as if Paul fell into Georgia’s lap, although it may have seemed like it.

Most experts thought Paul was headed to Clemson, before a late visit to Athens was all he needed to commit to Georgia and sign with the Bulldogs on Feb. 2.

Smart gave McGee all the credit.

“Andrew Paul is a guy we found out about and discovered. Dell did a tremendous job covering the country, looking for the best backs we could possibly bring into the University of Georgia,” Smart said. “Anytime you go across the state of Texas, there's a ton of really good football players. There's really good high school football in Texas. Dell reached out to me and sent me his Hudl link. I got to watch him, and I really liked him.”

There’s certainly a lot to like, although it took a while for the offers to start rolling in.

However, once Christmas rolled around, so did the offers. Paul went from having offers from the likes of Houston Baptist and Texas State to the likes of Michigan, Clemson, and Notre Dame, among others.

In fact, Georgia did not offer Paul a scholarship until late January.

But it’s easy to see why.

In Paul’s final three playoff games, per MaxPreps.com, he rushed for 323, 342, and 404 yards and 16 touchdowns. He racked up 2616 for the year.

“Dell knew the kid and the family. He's a 210-pound back, and he's got a great demeanor about him. He loves working out in the weight room, just tremendous background checks where he's played, and the people he's played for have a lot of respect for him,” Smart said. “Getting to see him play, spending time around him on the actual visit, it validated that. He comes from a military background family, which fits a criteria for us in terms of discipline and being made of the right things. Once we checked out all that, it became, 'was he good enough?' And we loved him.”

Paul’s future is undoubtedly bright.

Along with fellow freshman Branson Robinson, Paul gives the Bulldogs two of the bigger backs they’ve signed in one class in recent memory.

With veterans Kendall Milton, Kenny McIntosh, and Daijun Edwards expected to be the top three options, neither Paul nor Robinson will have the pressure to play right away.

However, if you know Smart, if either shows they are ready, opportunities could come their way.

"We think he's a really good football player with great academics. He won a state championship in high school,” Smart said. “If you look at these guys who joined us today, almost every one of them won a state championship in high school, which is another indicator of success and winning—coming from good teams, which is great value for us."